Why a .NET Developer Loves Force.com

When I graduated from College 20 years ago, I had no idea how much would change in the world of Software Development. Back then, the college I attended taught students COBOL as the primary language (and yes, I realize that some people reading this will not even know what that is).

It is lucky for me that I love learning new things. My entire career has been one VERY long lesson – one that changes on an almost daily basis. Blink and you’ll miss the next great language, platform or tool.

While learning new things never bothered me, the other day a simple exercise demonstrated to me how much of a hit my productivity has taken as a result of all the constant big changes in the .NET world of development.

I have been focused on .NET development ever since it emerged and before that, I was a big Visual Basic developer. A little over two years ago, I was introduced to the world of Force.com. One of my clients was using Salesforce and they needed to make it work well with the .NET-based Portal platform they were using.

Despite some initial hesitations, I found myself liking the platform more and more. I loved how stable it was and how I did not have to waste days tracking down crazy server configuration issues (like I did so often when deploying .NET applications). So over the past two years, I have spent as much time as possible learning all about it. A few months ago, I earned the Developer certification and I am currently studying for the advanced certification.

I really came to appreciate the platform when the other day I decided to use it to build a prototype application for a new client. The client was unsure about whether to go further with a project to replace their membership management system. In less than two days (10 hours total), I was able to put together a bare-bones membership management system using a free developer edition.

The prototype application (which has been intentionally blurred to hide sensitive data) included tabs for Documents, Reports, Dashboards, Chatter and Ideas, right off the bat. No programming required. Not a single line of code had to be written. All I did was use the declarative features of the platform to build the app and then I used the Apex Data Loader to import a large group of production member data into the new system. This really helped the client to see the potential of the platform.

I could have never put together something like this on the .NET platform so quickly. The reality is that it would have taken weeks to have put together a .NET prototype with the same amount of functionality. Now, do not get me wrong. I Still love .NET and I am not trying to put it down in any way. But, I have to be honest when I acknowledge that being a .NET developer these days can be a tad bit overwhelming. It seems like just when you have some new tool or language figured out, it has become obsolete and no one is using it any more.

I doubt I will ever get to the point where I am focused solely on any one platform (Force.com or .NET). I think the trick to being valuable as a developer is to keep an open mind and have as vast a skill set as possible. There is never one tool for every job in this business.

I would love to hear what you think???